Ninety miles south of the eastern end of Cuba, in the Caribbean (kr´ -b´n) Sea, lies the island of Jamaica. Kingston is its capital. This island was discovered by Columbus in 1494. Fifteen years later the Spanish opened up settlements here. One hundred fifty years afterwards the English took the island away from the Spanish and have since held it in their possession. The population of Jamaica is mostly negro. Its trade is largely with the United States. Its chief export is that of tropical fruits, particularly bananas. There are tobacco and coffee plantations here, but agriculture has not been highly developed. The island is about the size of the state of Connecticut. It has a population of about 850, 000. Most of the farming is done on plantations. That is, a rich owner will have his fields tended by the native negroes. The owner is a sort of an overlord. Some of these plantation owners find it profitable to use their plantations as cattle ranches, such as you see. You are also shown here the beautiful palm trees which grow wild. Five of these straight-trunked trees are seen crowned with their tufts of branches. You will also observe the home of one of the tenants of the cattle ranch. Directly in the center of the view is one of the highways, well laid out and well cared for. Jamaica is one of the West Indies, a group of islands that separate, in part, the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. That portion of the West Indies called the Greater Antilles is made up of Jamaica, Porto Rico, Haiti, and Cuba. These islands lie in what is called the Hurricane Belt. Great storms sweep across them from west and south doing tremendous damage. Most of them have heavy rainfall. A large part of the trade of these islands is carried on with the United States. Keystone ID: 9991 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.